"Wow," said Cabrera, as if he had just heard his name and "Triple Crown" in the same sentence for the first time.

Wow, indeed.

Not quite two days had passed since Cabrera had secured the Triple Crown on Wednesday night in Kansas City. The break helped him relax and reflect, and now it was time to get ready for the A's.

"I feel much better right now," he said. "I think these two days off helped me a lot to get over the Triple Crown race, be ready and focused about (Saturday's) game."

The stretch run to achieve the Triple Crown wasn't easy for Cabrera, mostly because it came with attention he wasn't used to. Before the final month of the season, the third baseman might have been one of the most anonymous superstars in the game.

Not now. Not after ESPN provided updates after Cabrera's final at-bats of the regular season. Not after he received a standing ovation ... in an opposing ballpark, as he did Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium. And not after he received congratulatory tweets from Carl Yastrzemski, Frank Robinson and LeBron James.

LeBron James?

"LeBron James like to me (is the) best basketball player right now," Cabrera said, "so kind of excited. Kind of surprise me."

Cabrera said in a joking manner that he waited for a phone call from James, too - it didn't come. Still, he said he was thrilled to hear from "celebrities."

To "see these guys like (that) talk about you is like kind of amazing because they're the best of the best, Hall of Famers," he said.

He also heard from Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who sent a text message.

"Exciting," Cabrera said. "That's something special right now."

So too is the reaction in his native Venezuela.

"I think they're excited back at home," he said. "I think they can't wait until I came back to Venezuela and celebrate the Triple Crown."

Cabrera said he got more than 150 text messages. He said he spent a lot of time during the past couple of days texting back. He also said his mind is now ready for the playoffs, and that the team is, too.

"We know we've got a great ballclub," he said. "We know what we have in the clubhouse. What we need is to go out there and play hard. Hopefully the bats are starting hot. We know we're going to face a very hot team like Oakland. They play unbelievable baseball right now."

The Tigers haven't played too badly down the stretch, either. The team isn't quite on the roll it was a year ago entering the playoffs, but it's healthier this time.

"I think we are at 100 percent," Cabrera said. "Everybody's healthy. I think everybody's got more experience. Hopefully we can play well. Hopefully we can win the games we need to pass to the next series."